Nadia, Secret of Blue Water - The Adventure Begins

Promising Start (Episode 1-4)

Nadia, the Secret of Blue Water which was aired in Japan in 1990 is the first successful work of Hideaki Anno now known by his superhit Animation series of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. Nadia was originally the idea of Hayao Miyazaki but Hideaki Anno succeeded this project and made this series one of the most successful TV animation. Parallels between Miyazaki's THE CASTLE IN THE SKY originated from the same concept can be found on this series. Particularly the first four episodes have the similar excitement of thrilling chasing THE CASTLE IN THE SKY might provide. The parallel between THE CASTLE IN THE SKY and FUTURE BOY CONAN also its "cousin" works will be more apparent as the series go on.
What made this series unique is the characterization of Nadia which is so complicated as Miyazaki character SAN (Princess Mononoke) or Naussica.
Nadia herself I think is the greatest mystery to me.

Verdict: Exciting Miyazaki-like adventure story
Rating: 89 out of 100. Good start for the series
Recommended for: Neon Genesis Evangelion fans and The Castle In The Sky fans. August 17, 2007

Good start!

Before EVANGELION, the anime for which Gainax was best-known was probably FUSHIGI NO UMI NO NADIA ("Nadia of the Seas of Wonder"), a TV series which aired on NHK during 1990-91. The series was a huge hit in Japan at the time, but has since been overshadowed by the more well-known EVA, which is a shame since NADIA is a better example of all-around entertainment than EVA. Streamline Pictures made the first attempt at an English release of the series in the mid-1990s, but for some reason they didn't finish it, and so A.D. Vision - the U.S. distributors of EVANGELION - tackled the job of translating the series anew in 2000. And I think it turned out great - I've only seen the first four episodes, which I rented from my public library, but they've left me hungry for more.
I've seen a lot of complaints about the dub here. Yes, Nathan Parsons needs work with his French accent as Jean, and Meg Bauman's Nadia sounds a bit green in parts too (albeit very good overall), but keep in mind they were still kids when they recorded these parts - no one expects a 14-year-old to be a Shakespeare-caliber actor, and personally I think it was innovative of A.D. to cast actual kids as Nadia and Jean, rather than adults pretending to be kids. I don't believe that their performance makes the show "unwatchable" at all - I think it makes the characters seem more believable. But the best voice talent among the whole bunch is Sarah Richardson, the voice of Grandis Granva. Grandis is definitely my favorite character - even if she is supposedly a "villain," you can't help but love her. I also love Shawn Sides' purrs and growls as King, who is one of the most adorable anime characters I've ever seen.
The show itself might be a bit too intense for very young children, but audiences 10 and older might get a kick out of it. This definitely isn't your typical sugary, syrupy-sweet kids' show. It deals with a lot of issues you wouldn't ever see in, say, "Rugrats," particularly in the personality of Nadia, who is a strict vegetarian and a strong believer in animal rights. (In episode three where the ship is being attacked by a supposed sea monster, Nadia is concerned mainly for the safety of the sea monster.) There are also a few situations adults and those old enough to understand will get a chuckle out of, including a shower scene in which Nadia smacks Jean for trying to peep into her stall.
As for the production values, they're great. The animation has aged very well and doesn't look at all dated, and like his work on Gainax's later hits EVANGELION and KARE KANO, Shiro Sagisu's music is superb. The theme song is relentlessly catchy and has that late '80s/early '90s "feel" to it - it sounds a bit Paula Abdul or Madonna-ish - and the pseudo-English lyric "Don't forget to try in mind" always makes me crack a smile.
All in all, a very enjoyable series thus far. It's a children's series, but it's sophisticated enough that adults can enjoy it too. Recommended. May 29, 2004

The Secret of Blue Water

The Series: "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" is a lot of fun, but not without its flaws. The animation is very well executed, but also obviously done on a tight budget, with a lot of scans and loops. The characters are lovable, but tend to bicker amongst themselves too much. The story is interesting, but the writing occasionally goes south, especially in the dismal Lincoln Island episodes. All and all, though, it's a wonderful, innocent adventure, and it makes me very happy. While, at 36 episodes on ten discs, it's a serious investment in time and money, it will richly reward those who stick with it. The ending is one of the best I've seen in an Anime series, and there are a lot of wonderful moments along the way. It will also interest fans of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "His and Her Circumstances", since this is the first series Hideaki Anno directed, and it's interesting to see the themes that will show up in his later work evolving here.

This Disc: The series gets off to a good start. Jean, a young French inventor, meets Nadia, a beautiful but temperamental circus acrobat with a pet lion cub and a necklace with a blue jewel (the titular Blue Water) that glows when she's in danger. Jean rescues Nadia from a gang of jewel thieves who want Blue Water with the help of a series of fantastic, if slightyl anachronistic, vehicles. These episodes aren't the best in the series, and the scale is a lot smaller and the stakes a lot lower than they will be later on, but they introduce most of the `good guy' characters, have a lot of great moments, and give a pretty good feel for what the rest of the rest of the series will be like. September 17, 2003

From simple beginnings ...

..., suffice to say this is the best cartoon/anime series I have seen so far. I am new to anime having only viewed Sailor Moon, Saint Tail, The Castle of Cagliostro and Cardcaptor Sakura before this. I have just finished the final volume and can only compare the story arc (being primarily a huge sci-fi fan) to Babylon 5's. Not in plot elements but in the way the story unfolds. It is a kids show and has some wacky moments to cater for them, however the story line which starts from the simple plot of a young circus girl pursued by jewel thieves unfolds into something incredible by the final volume. You end up actually really caring what happens to the main characters, Nadia & Jean and the rest of the cast. By the way, I loved the music and the "new" voices mentioned previously (having never heard the original), all were perfect to me with the exception of Grandis ... and Gargoyle's was brilliant, the sheer arrogance and belief in his own superiority shines through. A sequel series - please !!! August 30, 2002

Promising beginning to an uneven (turbulent?) series.

A longtime fan favorite for many years, this 39-part TV series has quite a bit of secrets of its own, one of which I'll talk about before I start my review. In the mid 1970's, prior to obtaining his well-deserved status as Japan's greatest animator ever, a young Hayao Miyazaki was hired by Japanese movie giant Toho to develop ideas for TV series. One of these concepts was "Around the World Under the Sea", based on Jules Verne's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, in which two orphan children pursued by villains team up with Captain Nemo and his mighty submarine, the Nautilus. Although it was never produced, Toho nonetheless kept the rights to the story outline. Miyazaki would reuse elements from his original concept in later projects of his, notably the Sci-Fi series FUTURE BOY CONAN and the action-adventure feature CASTLE IN THE SKY.

Flash forward about ten years later. Animation studio GAINAX was appointed by Toho in 1989 to produce a TV series which would be broadcast on the Japanese educational network NHK (the equivalent of PBS). Miyazaki's outline for "Around the World Under the Sea" was the one which captivated GAINAX the most. Under the direction of brilliant but angst-ridden Hideaki Anno, the animation studio took the central story and setup Miyazaki had developed and touched it up with their own creativity. Thus, NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER was born. (Incidentally, Anno had previously worked for Miyazaki as an animator on projects such as NAUSICAA.) The show was a tremendous success in its initial 1990 Japanese broadcast; the title character, Nadia, showed up on the Japanese Animage polls as favorite Anime heroine, dethroning Miyazaki's own NAUSICAA, the previous champion.

The story, set in 1889 Paris, follows the adventures of Nadia, a brooding, dark-skinned circus acrobat who has grown up to become a suspicious, strong-willed girl with no clue of her past other than her jeweled necklace, the Blue Water. She refuses to trust anybody other than animals or the diamond, and acts aloof and uninterested when, on a chance day at the Eiffel Tower, she happens to meet a boy her age known as Jean. An ever-lovable, eager-to-please, precocious aviator-wannabe, Jean is easily the most likable character in the show; the sort of best friend or love interest ANYBODY would ever want to have. Nadia, by contrast, is not always lovable; as mentioned, she does not respond to Jean's friendly overtures when they first meet. But Jean, unwilling to take no for an answer, earns her trust when he rescues her from a comic trio of bandits -- the Grandis Gang (a smashingly funny trio consisting of the red-haired, short-tempered Grandis Granva, and her two accomplices, vain Sanson, and mechanic Hanson who threaten to steal the show) -- and unabashedly shows Nadia that he'll do anything to make her happy. Needless to say, Nadia's self-centered, anti-social nature slowly begins to change through her newfound relationship with Jean. The pair are soon thrust into an even bigger adventure when they set off to find Nadia's birthplace, supposedly located in Africa. Rescued by a US battleship hunting down sea monsters, and later taken aboard the Nautilus, the two, already fast friends, will have a lot to deal with during the course of their surprising adventure.

The above synopsis sets the stage for a promising beginning to a TV series which unfortunately doesn't always stay afloat. NADIA has twenty-two terrific episodes and the last five ones are equally fantastic, but the remaining episodes vary in quality. However, this is merely another story, as the show still manages to pull enough goodies out of the bag to keep us interested. Plus, the first DVD has tremendous entertainment value, so no problems there. The animation is quite excellent, bursting with wit and imagination, considering that this is a 1989 Anime TV show (most Anime TV series have, at the time, had smaller budgets resulting in choppy frame rates). Shiro Sagisu's music has its occasionally bland moments, but it somehow suits the show. Plus, the opening and ending theme songs (sung by Miho Morikawa) are gorgeous, too.

In July of 2001 (ironically, the same time Disney unveiled ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE), ADV Films released the first DVD in the series for new fans to discover. The visual transfer is very good, despite some minor nicks at points, and the audio is competently mixed. However, the extras aren't really anything special, just the creditless opening and ending as well as trailers for other ADV Films releases, which aren't bad, but they just don't feel like enough.

I should also mention that while serious hardcore fans would rather watch the series in Japanese, the English dub made by ADV Films' Austin-based Monster Island studios isn't bad at all for what it is. It was a very nice idea to cast actual children to play the roles of Jean and Nadia, and the results are quite pleasing. Fourteen-year-old Meg Bauman makes a wonderful Nadia, capturing much of her multi-faceted personality and determination. I also liked twelve-year-old Nathan Parsons, who plays Jean. His French accent isn't the greatest, but his enthusiasm shines through, making his performance very enjoyable, despite his slippery dialect. The two youngsters do great chemistry alongside the more experienced adult members of the cast. Sarah Richardson (Grandis), Martin Blacker (Sanson), Corey Gagne (Hanson), Ev Lunning, Jr. (Captain Nemo), Ed Neal (Jean's Uncle), and Jennifer Stuart (Nemo's First Officer Electra) all deliver good, solid performances. Lowell Bartholomee's adaptation maintains the spirit of the show and actually outshines the unpolished, awkwardly translated subtitle script. Granted the dub is not perfect -- aside from the accents, some of the incidental characters sound like they're warming up -- but on the whole, this is a commendable English track, and one to which I don't mind listening.

NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER may be longer than it was originally supposed to be, but there's enough to enjoy, particularly this first volume. It's quite a lot of fun. January 19, 2002

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